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Structure and dynamics of arboreal ant communities along successional gradient in a mountain tropical forest of New Guinea
MOTTL, Ondřej
I analysed the structure and dynamics of a community of tropical arboreal mountain ants in Papua New Guinea over a succession gradient. There were 9 plots divided into 3 successional stages of forest (old (<50 years), middle-aged (20-30 years) and young (>13 years)). I found 24 species of arboreal ants in total. Gamma and alpha diversity differed over the successional gradient, and alpha diversity was correlated with tree size (DBH). Unexpectedly, beta diversity (number of ant species per tree) was low in middle-aged forest, i.e. it had the greatest ant species similarity between trees, probably due to forest structure (stem density and canopy connection). In contrast, the species composition of ant communities did not differ over a succession gradient, because most of the species were abundant in all forest stages. Similarly, there was also relatively little difference in composition of nest types between different successional stages. Here I have shown that succession had little impact on the structure and dynamics of tropical arboreal ant communities in high elevation, probably as a result of ants' adaptation to lower temperatures and ecological change to trophic generalists. But other factors such as absence of invasive species, food supply, and forest structure may play a significant role. In summary, local logging and shifted agriculture have relatively little impact on ant communities in mountain tropical forests. This is in contrast to similar studies from lowland rainforests and my results hence have a positive implication for tropical forest conservation of ants in mountain regions.
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